Music Monday: Menomena

 

On Saturday night/early Sunday morning, Shug and I were able to see one of our old faves at the Urban Lounge: Menomena.

The performance was great, as they always are, but Salt Lake City was poor Menomena's last stop on their American tour and they were bushed.  There were a few new band mates and some songs from their newest album and as I watched the show (and the innnnnnteresting crowd) I reflected on how much has changed since I first saw them play in 2007 in Chicago with my new boyfriend.

Friday Link Love and Lovelies

Let's just talk about my outfit first to get THAT out of the way.  

Shug and I were invited to the annual Salt Lake Magazine Dining Awards on Tuesday evening.  Shug was going to help run the awards and my job was to drink champagne.  I had about seven minutes to get ready after I rushed home from a crazy clinic day.  Let me tell you something about putting a cute outfit together: it takes some thought. 

It is very clear that I did not have much thought to give to my belly-shirt-witchy-woman-poncho-disaster.  It's ok.  Really, it is.  But when bumped up against the likes of Supermodel, Ciel, and Capricieux, I look a little cray.

Sartorial choices aside, we had a fabulous evening!  It was filled with good conversation with some of our best friends.  It was so fun to have this experience with them!  We also have a list of restaurants to try in Salt Lake City this weekend!  Hope you have a good one...I'm getting to be less of a lump/grump now that I can feel spring just around the corner!

The Salt Lake Magazine Dining Awards 2013 winners! 

 

Mayyyybe going to attempt to knit one of these.

I know smoking is bad, but I am dying over these bobbies.

The new Emerson Fry comes out on February 25!  Can't wait!

So ridiculous.  And perfect in a weird way.

Should have styled my sweater like this!

Important read for all women.

xo.

SLC Bites Summer 2011

Yesterday, Shug and I had an adventure!  We were able to secure two spots for the summer SLC Bites, which is part of Slow Food Utah, an organization committed to delicious, locally sourced, seasonal, and REAL food.  The founders of SLC Bites took the time to tell us that they were motivated to add some fresh faces to the usually "seasoned" foodie crowd of Salt Lake City and by the looks of it, the twenty to thirty-somethings were out in full force for the event at the 15th Street Gallery!

We started the evening out with antipasti from Caputo's Market that featured cheeses made from a local Eden dairy and Creminelli cured meats.  I really liked the sour cherry preserves added to cut the creaminess of the cheese.  I may or may not have scarfed down 8 of these...

 We then moved on to a lightly seared ahi tuna medallion with toasted buckwheat and a green olive.  It was delicious!  The chef from Forage, Viet Pham, always does an amazing job of juxtaposing textures, and that was in full effect here!  (He also has fabulous taste in shoes!)

The true comfort food of the night was a pulled ginger pork banh mi, dressed with fresh cilantro, jalapeno, carrot, daikon, and cucumber for crunch.  Chef Tommy Nguyen was nice enough to make one bun-free for my gluten sensitivities!

Dessert was a gin concoction with a pineapple sorbet and smoked cedar notes!  It was a palate cleanser!  As the sorbet melted, it sweetened and mellowed the gin...soooo delicious!

Shug and I had a wonderful night and we hope to attend the next season's SLC Bites event!

Music Monday: (More) Fleet Foxes

 

YOU.  GUYS.

Friday's show was so ridiculously amazing, 

I kept reminding myself to just pay attention to everything because I

knew it was one of those shows I would remember for, well, forever.

It was too, too lovely for words to even begin to describe.

The mountains, the music, the company, 

everything combined made for a perfect experience.

I hope, if you ever get the chance, you will see Fleet Foxes live.

You won't be sorry.

Music Monday: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

 

I can't get over how amazing Sharon Jones' voice is!

Last night was one of the first shows of the Red Butte Concert Series!

While I wasn't able to attend last night's show to see Sharon and the Dap-Kings play,

this Friday I get to see Fleet Foxes at Red Butte!

I'm looking forward to wine with my favorite friends and beautiful music outside!

Link Love and Lovelies

It has been another crazy week!  I feel like I haven't been able to "catch up" for at least a month now.  My weekends seem busier than my weekdays, somehow!  I am on call this weekend (boo), but I get to spend some time with my favorites (yea!!!).  Are you doing anything fun this weekend?  All I know is that whatever I do, it needs to be in the sunshine!

Here's some loveliness for the weekend!

• I am going to this this weekend!  Maybe we'll find some art to bring home!
• Loving this maxi-skirt look!
• This.  Is.  Awesome.
• Ruby and Tucker were featured on a favorite blog!!!
• Sososososo excited for this!  And it's FREEEEEEE!
• I want to decorate my ceilings this way.
• I want to live here.

Enjoy the weekend with someone special!

Source

State Pride

Whenever I'm traveling and I tell people where I'm from they either ask, 

"Where's Utah?" or "Are you Mormon?"

I am proud to say I'm from Utah, even if I don't ascribe to the state's predominant faith.

Utah has actually gotten leaps and bounds more diverse from the time I moved here when I was just a little girl.  I have such a love for this beautiful and weird state!

Here are some cute littles that show my crush on Utah!

The seagull and sego lily are our state bird and flower.

This "state on a stick" painting is kinda interesting!

This Utah pillow is cute!

This has to be my favorite!  I have this print in our room!

Music Thursday: Panda Bear

 

I am SO done with winter.  Srsly.

This happens every February, though.  I decide I should break up with Salt Lake City.  The cold, ice, smog, and sunless days...I can only take so much, ya know?  After the holidays and Shug's birthday has passed to distract me, I really get to examine Salt Lake's and my relationship.

And I get sick of it!

So, to distract myself from yet another snowstorm, I try to do things that make me happy, one of which is listening to music that warms from the inside-out, like a good cup of hot chocolate.  I also need to remember, Spring and it's warmth are just around the corner!

What do you do to get through a weather or season funk?

Happy Valentine's Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I hope you have a lovely lovey day with your sweetheart!

Shug was so sweet and took me to a romantic dinner at Fresco on Friday.

They actually had quite a few gluten-free items on the menu!

And you know what else?

.

.

.

.

.

Chocolate

is

gluten

free,

too

!

Have a happy day, ok?

Music Monday: Two Bicycles

 

 This band can produce the loveliest, dreamiest songs.

Plus, these shots of Norway are amazing!

After you're finished listening to this, 

check out KRCL today, a favorite SLC independent radio station.

They are having a countdown of the best albums of 2010!

It'll be a good way to get back into the week and a non-holiday season;)!

xo.

Utah Holiday Gift Guide 2010

Here's a cool print for your arty friends.

I always love giving an ornament as a special gift!

 This shmancy passport cover would be perfect for the globetrotter on your list!

This leather wrap bracelet would be loved by any fashion-minded friend.

This air planter is the perfect solution to the person that has everything!

For the writer in your life, this leather-bound journal is perfect (and a steal!)

 This delicate necklace would make anyone's holiday complete!

This adorable flour sack towel would be great for your baking buddies.

Also, Happiest Birthday to my mumma!
She's pretty much the nicest gal a person could meet!
She has this amazing talent where she makes anyone
feel like family: loved and cared for.
I'm hoping this was passed on to me...
Still waiting!

Can we get a snow day over here?

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  We woke up this morning to almost two feet of snow!  I've already shoveled my brains out because of a new law in Salt Lake City that fines you if your sidewalks are snowy!  Since I've been shoveling instead of getting a blog post ready, I'll have to catch up tomorrow with you all!  Drive safely! xo.

Memomena in Salt Lake City

I think I'm getting the idea that nostalgia can be a dangerous thing.  

Menomena played a show at Urban Lounge a couple weekends ago at the Urban Lounge.  Shug and I have had the pleasure of seeing these talented musicians play in Chicago, Boise, and a little old venue I adore here in Salt Lake City, Kilby Court.  Needless to say, Shug and I are SUPERfans of Menomena.  We have embarrassed ourselves (and our friends) countless times with our shameless adoration and need to be in the front row.  SO when we saw Menomena was booked to play SLC just a week after our return from our travels, Shug and I decided it was kismet!

While we weren't completely sold on their new album, it was Memomena!  We HAD to go.  This was a band that played in the background when the shackles of love were being soldered around both Shug's and my hearts.  This was a band that was playing when I decided to pursue a career completely outside of my educational background.  This was the band that blasted in the speakers of my car when I drove Shug to meet my sweet Grandparents for the first, nerve-wracking time.  This band kinda means a lot to us.

And this is where nostalgia can get a little tricky.  The performance at Urban was just, well, bland.  I'm blaming Salt Lake being the second-to-last stop on a loooong tour with Tu Fawning and the addition of another guitarist.  Three's company and four's a crowd, right?  The energy and snap these musicians used to convey so effortlessly was just absent from this performance.

And you know what?  Shug and I were totally ok with that.  Because this band has a few songs that are a part of our mixtape.  No matter what kind of so-so albums they create, they are already a part of what I consider to be the best album I will ever hear: the music I fell in love to.